The sun was reaching its apex as the day drolled on. A man sitting at the top of a wooden guard tower, his legs dangling as he looked out into the forest beyond.
His shoulder-length black hair gently flowed in the breeze of the midday wind, his black and gold-trimmed robes fluttering ever so slightly.
In his hands were a few items he was having a hard time not complaining about.
"Ahhhh! Why is this thing in the middle of the fucking Ant's Hive?! How did that sad excuse for a King even get it there?" Drake shouted into the air, raising the piece of paper he looked at time and time again for the past seven days.
Drake Wallen, also known as Shot in the tutorial. Or more accurately now as 'The Tyrant'. Was doing his best not to run off and try his best to get the pitiful Goblin King Moth's Treasure Hoard.
"Perhaps they placed it there prior to the Ants arriving?" Natto offered, placing a roasted nut into her mouth, "Ish naut like shew can not just go there youshelf lahtah.." she continued through her chewing.
"Why have you still not learned to not talk with your mouth full? It's so unladylike," Drake scoffed, looking down at the little pink-haired construct who wore a miko outfit.
"I get it from you! All of my bad habits, all of them!" she snapped back.
Doesn't that just mean she got all of my bad traits and none of my good ones when they made her?… Wait… Drake thought.
"That makes no sense, I don't do that."
Natto gave him a side stink eye as she took a large bite out of another nut, the side of her cheek puffing up as she chewed.
Drake coughed, then went back to check some of the new items he had acquired.
After the fight with the Goblin King and subsequently winning at the cost of a very painful recovery, near-death experience, and a very loud yelling from several people.
Drake had been bedridden for three days, even after being healed by Jacqueline. Then another four days of "No doin' noting", as Jacqueline ordered him.
He had been disgruntled about it instantly saying he did not need to rest, his body would be fine. But his body's unwillingness to move even his head from the pillow forced him to comply.
Fortunately, Drake had a plethora of notifications to go through and catch up on. Titles, Quest Updates, Rewards.
The one update that filled his boyish joy was a title of the numerous ones he had received.
[Highest Contributor]
[During a large-scale Quest event, you have contributed the most to the completion. Your deeds have earned you many a reward and accolade. +15% To all damage.]
When Drake had seen the title he had done a head shimmy in his bed. Although that was only because the single thing he could move was his head, and only barely at the time.
The next few Titles were also nothing to scoff at.
[Vanquisher of Kings]
[You have dealt 99% of the damage to a royal. As the usurper of the Goblin Throne you are forever hated by the Goblin Race. +10% Damage to Royal Bloodlines. +50% Damage to all Goblinoid Races.]
[Tutorial Forerunner]
[You have proven yourself to be one of great strength and steel. Reaching heights very few of your tutorial group have managed. +20 to all Stats. +5% to Aura Effects.]
[Well on Your Way]
[Obtain the first fully progressed Skill of your rank, reaching Proficiency 3. +1% to all Stats]
[First of Many]
[Having contributed to the death of a Royal you have set in motion you vye for power and glory. May the path to the top be bloody and long. +5% Damage to beings above your Rank.]
[Glory of the Patriarch]
[Substantial enough deeds have been performed by an Individual for the system to recognize them by name. +15% to all Aura Effects. +10% Damage to any beings below your Rank.]
[Expectations of the Host]
[The Sponsor of your tutorial has noticed your accomplishments and expects great things from you.]
Drake winced slightly at the last one when he read it from his bed a day after he had woken up from the healing. He was beginning to pile up a lot of unwanted attention. But that was what happened when you started to make progress anywhere. Be that games, life, or a death tutorial it seemed.
Finally, there was one he somewhat knew was coming but even his cringiest of bones couldn't handle it.
[The Dawning of a Tyrant]
[Your will and ideals have been thrusted upon the world. Your views will not be opposed, and those that have, have perished underfoot. Your rule is law under penalty of death. +15% to all Aura skills effects, +15 to all stats.]
When Drake had finished looking at all the Titles that the system had given him for the quest he was overjoyed, but was also melancholy. As he was unable to put them to any use while bedridden at the time.
Placing the Map that he received from the Royal Knight Quest he pulled out two pairs of violet-colored crystals in his left hand.
[Communication Crystal] [F Grade]
Can use these two mana-linked crystals to communicate over far distances.
Infuse mana into the crystal to establish a connection.
Can only be used with its uniquely paired counterpart.
He currently didn't have a use for the items but was happy to receive them later. The crystals were a reward for completing two of the last few quests he had yet to finish. The Red-capped Goblins and the Goblin Scouts.
After Drake's seven-day retreat from any physical exercise, he was ready to go. Especially back to the site where he had fought the King as he didn't have time to collect any of the loot. Thankfully though he had gotten some of the rewards from the quest completion and the King himself, even if Claire had been the one to finish the monster.
When he had recovered enough he had immediately run off to stretch his legs. There were no more armies that he could find, but he had come upon the remnants of the Goblin camp where he had rescued the first batch of captives.
There he found essentially a wasteland. Leftover camps, war equipment, and cages.
Thankfully most of the people who had been left, the little amount that there were. Had been able to survive off the rations they had stored away. They were all severely dehydrated and malnourished but thanks to their levels they had been able to go beyond their old human limits.
For once when saving people, Drake was thanked as a savior. The faces of the 30 odd some left people lit up with tears of joy the moment they saw him and he opened their cages.
Once there Drake had to kill a small number of Goblins that remained, but they were no threat to him as he was now, resulting in a quick and timely death for the monsters.
The people once saved returned with him to his outpost that had now been more than amply fortified thanks to Hudson gaining some more levels, allowing for even more Robots to line the walls, and his Big Boy's getting up and running.
Snapping back to reality from his reminiscing, Drake placed the crystals into his inventory pulling another item from his recently expanded inventory full of goodies.
In his hand was a skill stone. A very controversial one.
[Skill Stone: Blood] [Rare]
[Unlocks a random skill from the Blood tree.]
[Requirement: Open Skill Slot and have at least 1 Warrior based Main Tree or Sub-tree Branch Unlocked.]
"I'm not so sure how I feel about using a stone like this, even if it is Rare…" Drake mused.
Natto tapped his side with a roasted snack as she swallowed her most recent bite.
"I would not worry about such things now. It has been an adequate amount of time since you have consumed any stones, and you have calmed down a great degree since that fight," she said, "You will need all the strong stones to complete your goal regardless of how you feel about where the stone came from. Or was all that talk just such, talk?"
"I don't like it when you tell me things I already know…" Drake smiled wearily.
Natto scoffed, a grin creasing her lips before she went back to snacking.
Drake took a long look into the horizon before turning his attention to the rampart below him. A more and more familiar face since he had returned that day.
"What do you want Mom?" Drake asked sarcastically.
"Who's your mom?!" Claire pouted, "It's past lunchtime, and Sherry is throwing another fit! And you didn't even sleep last night either! Don't think I didn't fucking notice!"
Drake rolled his eyes.
"I'll be right there. I thought I was the big strong guy protecting the Outpost, but instead, I'm the place's personal chef at this point," he laughed.
Claire crossed her arms looking up at him, her dirty blond hair tied into a side ponytail draping over her left shoulder. Her arms crossed as she leaned to one side.
Drake looked down and scoffed.
"I said I'll get to it. You know I'm a man of my word so off you go."
Claire pursed her lips but knew by now that arguing wouldn't do much with Drake. She quickly turned and walked down the rampart steps heading for the camp.
"You really should put a stop to that, it will only end in her being more heartbroken," Natto chided looking at the back of the young woman.
"Believe me I've tried. But she's become as attached as Chelsea has, and I want nothing to do with either of them romantically and I've said as much. There's just too much to do right now and I don't have a reason to lead them on and they know that," Drake sighed, placing the stone inside his inventory for a moment.
Drake placed his hands into the pockets of a new pair of Uncommon pants he had obtained from the quest to replace his old ones, as he digressed about how the two had started to dote on him following the completion of the quest.
He was surprised, to say the least, that Chelsea of all people would flip on her head, from hating him, to actually going out of her way to please him, even after he had allowed her to become injured during the fight.
Thankfully her injury made a full recovery thanks to Jacqueline. But on the other side of the coin-
Drake looked to his right shoulder, where his earthen arm still remained.
The cooldown on Jacqueline's spell was far longer than she had led on. Her healing spells had been used to mend both Chelsea and Julia. The problem was her most powerful spell. It had healed Drake from the brink of death, but that was also the problem.
While the spell healed Drake, because his arm was not technically injured, it had not been remade during the process.
He was more than a little annoyed when he heard the reasoning, saying he would just slice off part of his shoulder like a holiday ham if that is what it took. But then she had told him of her cooldown which had annoyed him even further.
Drake was truly irritated but there was nothing to be done until the cooldown was up, which would be tomorrow. But he had another problem.
Turning his head to the rest of the camp he remembered another one of his promises.
He had to bring the camp to Shigure's and he was well overdue to do so. Most of the people in the camp had been understanding, especially when he now had so many comrades willing to stick up for him, which was a welcomed feeling after so much animosity previously.
But a deal was a deal and his word had to be kept. After all, he was only as good as his word to an extent if he wanted to keep people's trust.
And I may or may not want to go see how Bjorn is doing. Annnnd may or may not want to try to beat him up. Drake thought, opening up the leaderboards.
[Top Level Leaderboard]
[Rank 1: Bear Level 27]
[Rank 2: Shigure Kenzo Level 24]
[Rank 3: Joker Level 22]
[Rank 4: Shot Level 19]
[Rank 5: Super Megan Level 18]
[Rank 6: Jimina Seinen Level 17]
….
[Tutorial Point Ladder]
[Rank 1: Shot 23,664,505 TP]
[Rank 2: Bear 7,465,355 TP]
[Rank 3: Claire Osberg 2,507,850 TP]
[Rank 4: Shigure Kenzo 2,483,945 TP]
Drake smiled widely looking at the results of the rewards from the quest once again. He had gained a whopping ten million TP from his contributions. And thankfully had also managed to level up from finishing the other quests. The only ones he still needed to finish were the Tyrant Ants and the Goblin Knights.
Encounters with the Goblins had become lessened but by no means had it ended. Some of the regular Goblin Knights and Lieutenants had survived and rallied the scattered forces trying to find new prey in the tutorial. Drake had been having some trouble finding the last remnants of the forces but was close to finishing. Only needing two more Knights for the quest rewards.
And speaking of other rewards. Thanks to his kill count Drake had also received a large sum of enhancing pills.
He had already consumed them the moment they popped into his room on top of him, forcing Natto to feed him.
In total, he had received more than the quest had even offered. From the wording, it seemed that the requirement for the reward was only killing the bare minimum, five thousand. But in delight, Drake had received even more. A total of thirty of each pill.
Each strengthening and mana pill gave one point per pill. The Strengthening Pill increased his Strength and Dexterity by one, and the Mana Pill his Intelligence and Wisdom by one each as well for a full thirty points to four different stats.
With all the stat bonuses from his titles and the pills, he had essentially picked up a few more levels outside of his status sheet level.
And what's more one of the most needed rewards was the Rare Piece of Equipment he was able to select.
The options were vast, including weapons and jewelry but he had picked the Braces that he now donned on his person.
[Bracers of the Desert Wanderer] [Rare]
125 to 142 Physical Reduction
93 to 127 Magic Reduction
1% Critical Hit Reduction
Increases Stamina by 10%, and Stamina Regeneration by 20%
Bracers made from the hide of the Desert Wildbacks. They are roaming monsters of the treacherous open desert of the Red Sands, their natural carapace allowing them to withstand not only the heat and uninhabitable conditions but retain water for extended periods of time, allowing them to survive.
The bracers were the only option he could find in the selection allowing him to increase one of his lowest resources at the moment. His stamina.
Drake hopped up getting to his feet, popping the Blood Skill Stone into his hand once more.
His left hand stretched for the sky as he let out a relieving groan.
"Alright, guess it's time to see to some food, I'm getting hungry myself," he said, looking down at Natto, her ears twitching at the word.
"Food?" she said, stopping mid-bite.
"Yup, then, I think it's about time we go visit an old friend," Drake smiled, his hand gripping the stone tightly.
[You wish to consume Skill Stone: Blood]
[Confirm?]
[Yes/No]
[You have learned skill: Ruler's Constitution [F Rank]
Ruler's Constitution P1(0%) [F Rank]
May your reign be long and as strong as thee.
This skill increases one's body, bringing it to the brink of what is possible. Allowing its user to live and prosper while their Kingdom grows under their watchful eye.
Passive Effect: Your health pool is now doubled (Increases based on Proficiency)
Extra Effect: You now gain an additional 2 Vitality per level.
Drake felt the enjoyable surge of cold to warm that he had almost forgotten over the past week, the wave of overwhelming power a sweet reminder of what consuming skills entailed.
But he quickly cocked an eyebrow at the skill description.
"Wait, I never signed up to do Kingdom Building…."